Axial chirality widely exists in natural products, pharmaceutical compounds, and other functional molecules; these axially chiral compounds also find wide utility as catalysts or ligands in organic synthetic chemistry. Nevertheless, whereas significant progress has been made toward the synthesis of enantioenriched axially chiral molecules over the past two decades, the strategies involving organocatalysis have only started to emerge recently. N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) organocatalysts have been recognized to be powerful tools for the rapid construction of complex molecular architectures. However, previous works have mainly focused on the assembly of point chirality and only recently has it been realized that the asymmetric synthesis of axial chirality could be achieved by using NHCs as organocatalysts. This Perspective highlights the developments and advances in the synthesis of axially chiral scaffolds catalyzed by NHCs. The aim of this Perspective is to provide an overview of this area and serve as a stepping stone for future investigations.

中文翻译：

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N-杂环卡宾催化构建轴向手性分子的最新进展

轴向手性广泛存在于天然产物、药物化合物和其他功能分子中；这些轴向手性化合物也可广泛用作有机合成化学中的催化剂或配体。然而，尽管在过去的二十年里，对映体富集的轴向手性分子的合成取得了重大进展，但涉及有机催化的策略最近才开始出现。N-杂环卡宾 (NHC) 有机催化剂已被公认为是快速构建复杂分子结构的有力工具。然而，以前的工作主要集中在点手性的组装上，直到最近才意识到可以通过使用 NHC 作为有机催化剂来实现轴向手性的不对称合成。该观点重点介绍了 NHC 催化的轴向手性支架合成的发展和进展。本视角的目的是提供该领域的概述，并作为未来调查的垫脚石。